Who are we?

   Founded in 1966, by Photini Constantinou and Monica Williams, in the centre of London, at 122, Charing Cross Road. Mrs Constantinou already had 18 years of experience selling Greek books to the diaspora of the UK, running a shop in Denmark Street called "Zeno". A move to Fortess Road, in 1990, was enforced by, the then, government's decision to abolish the "Greater London Council", who owned the building they were based in, but that move has proved to be tremendously successful. Despite the fact that the new premises are 5 times as large as the old one, we have been obliged to add a warehouse, as our school supply and huge stock has grown exponentially over the years.

Partners:

Mrs Photini Constantinou (née Savva). 13/3/13 - 9/12/06

Photini Constantinou, beloved mother of Monica Constantinou Williams, grandmother of Alison Richards and Andrew Stoddart and great-grandmother of Sophia Richards, passed away, peacefully, in her sleep, on the evening of Saturday the 9th of December, 2006.

She will be remembered within the Greek and Cypriot communities as a pioneering businesswoman; as the manager of 'Zeno' bookseller and publisher, between 1944 and 1961, and the senior partner of the 'Hellenic Bookservice', from 1966 to 2006.

Born in Limassol, Cyprus, on March the 13th, 1913, Mrs Constantinou's expertise in the multifarious subjects matters involved in running two bookshops and cataloguing for the British Library's Greek section, during the 1960s, was born out of her Cypriot education during the 1920s. She received top grades for Classical and Modern Greek, as well as Latin, English, History, Geography, Algebra and Mathematics. Leaving her native Cyprus, for England, in 1936, to enable her husband, Stelios, to undertake a scholarship at London's Trinity School of Music, Mrs Constantinou spent the war years, between Derbyshire and London, giving birth to her only child, Monica, in December 1940.

A highly intelligent and well-read woman, Mrs Constantinou collaborated with the Orthodox priest "Kykotis", to open Britain's Greek bookshop, 'Zeno', in 1944. She managed the shop, situated in London's Denmark Street, for 17 years, before leaving to become a cataloguer of Greek books in the British Library. Her ambition to run her own bookshop, never left her, and on Greek Independence Day, 1966, Mrs Constantinou, aided by her daughter, opened 'The Hellenic Bookservice, in the heart of London's busy Charing Cross Road, and directly opposite the smaller of the the two 'Foyle's' bookshops.

Due to the disbandment of the Greater London Council (GLC), and its preferential prices for smaller businesses, 'The Hellenic Bookservice' was forced to leave Central London, and start afresh, in Tufnell Park, in 1990, where the shop can still be found. Despite advancing years (she was 77 when the move occurred), Mrs Constantinou continued to work, six days a week, until ill-health forced her to semi-retire in 2004. She continued to work from home, on the shop's accounts, for a further year, but deteriorating health forced her into hospital, shortly after her 93rd birthday. Her last six weeks were spent at the home of her granddaughter, Alison, her great-son-in-law, Ian, and her great-granddaughter, Sophia,  in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. A peaceful passing was preceded by these days in the care of the people she loved most: her family, who shall forever remember this remarkable woman with the greatest of affection.

She will be fondly remembered by all who knew her.

Stelios Jackson

Monica (Constantinou) Williams

Andrew Stoddart

Manager:

Michael Moloney

Workers of the Hellenic World:

  Alex Savvatis

George Savvatis

Peros

Elizabeth Williamson

Fred Williams

Accounts

Marsha Fleming

Webmaster

Stelios Jackson